Wildflowers were magnificent on the pass on the way to Maki Lake. Edelweiss moment.
Hi all,
My tip of the week is about hitting the high mountain lakes in the premium part of the hiking season in August and September ...
See my article in the Idaho Press about hiking to Snowslide and Maki Lakes off of Lick Creek Road in McCall. The article was published on Wednesday, Aug. 14, in the Idaho Press Outdoors section.
Maki Lake also could be named Hidden Lake ... you won't see it until you arrive ...
Cool to have both lakes to ourselves on a Saturday in August.
Looking down at Snowslide Lake from the pass above ... granite granite everywhere!
We ski-daddled along the snowy Bear Pete ridge in our hiking boots.
Hi all,
Summer is kicking into high gear, with temperatures now in the 90s in the Boise Valley. And the snow is melting fast in the mountains, so it's time to head into the high country for hiking and summer fun.
For my outdoor tip of the week, I'm recommending three hikes in the greater McCall area (elevation 5,000 feet). All of these hikes would be suitable for kids and families.
Be sure to pack plenty of water, snacks/lunch, rain coat and bug spray. Also, it's a good idea to bring a Payette National Forest or McCall area Adventure map to stay on track. Most of these areas are out of cell range except Boulder Lake.
Jim Pace takes a gander at Buckhorn Mountain off in the distance at Boulder Lake.
1. Hike to Boulder Lake - Rated easy to moderate. Distance: 4 miles - 2 miles out, 2 miles back. Vertical: 700 feet of gain. This is a scenic hike that offers a little more mountain "wow" factor than the trails in Ponderosa Park and Bear Basin. Nice place to swim, go fishing or have a picnic. Trailhead is off Elo Road by Boulder Mountain Reservoir. See details on Payette National Forest web site. Bring a lunch and enjoy the setting!
You walk by multiple meadows on the 20 Mile Trail ... old burn areas and some mature forest that didn't burn.
2. 20 Mile Trail - This is more of a forested hike into a beautiful glacial-sculpted canyon. Much of this area burned years ago, but the lodgepole pines are growing back as thick as dog hair. Rated easy. Distance 5.5 miles to 20 Mile Lakes junction and back. Vertical: 260 feet of gain. The 20 Mile trail is in great shape. No downfall. That makes things super pleasant. If you want to go farther, go uphill on the trail to 20 Mile Lakes for a bigger view of the surrounding mountains. Getting to the trailhead: Take Warren Wagon Road north past Upper Payette Lake and watch for 20 Mile Trailhead on the right side of the road.
Looking up the canyon toward Lick Creek Summit.
For an even bigger adventure, leave a shuttle vehicle at the 20 Mile trailhead and get a ride to the Duck Lake Trailhead by Lick Creek Summit. You can do a through-hike from Duck Lake down the full length of 20 Mile Trail ... it's only 10.5 miles! 710 feet of gain and 1,640 feet of descent. Plan for a full-day to do the shuttle and hike.
Wendy walks through a gallery of dead whitebark pines on the way up the mountain.
3. Bear Pete Trail to Josephine Lake overlook - Hiking this route is a quick way to get into the alpine zone from the trailhead at Cloochman Summit, not far from Secesh Summit. Rated moderate. Short strenuous climbs in a few spots. Distance: 5.5 miles out and back. Vertical: 1,400 feet of gain. Drive north of McCall on Eastside Drive to North Beach area, then continue north on Warren Wagon Road past Upper Payette Lake to a signed left-hand turn to Cloochman Saddle. High-clearance vehicle recommended. Park at the trailhead by the saddle. Hike uphill on Bear Pete Trail and enjoy the rainbow of wildflowers as you climb through alpine meadows to an overlook of Josephine Lake at just over 8,000 feet. Big views looking into French Creek, Bear Pete Mountain, and the Payette Crest. The full length of Bear Pete Trail is 17.5 miles ... I have mountain biked it both directions. Hard-core trail runners would love doing the whole thing. 3,125 vertical!
Bear grass coming on!
------------------------------ Notes
The Grand Opening for the new Payette Lake singletrack trail is on Saturday, from 2-8 p.m., sponsored by the Central Idaho Mountain Biking Association (CIMBA). Burgers, dogs, and Salmon River Brewery will be pouring beer. This is a fund-raising event. CIMBA does a ton of great things for trails in the greater McCall area, including overseeing the development of the new trail on the west side of Payette Lake. Here's a link to the new trail on MTB Project.
Huckleberry Trail in Ponderosa State Park is super fun and challenging!
The trail drops down by the lake in multiple places, providing a place for Huck to cool off ...
Flowers popping near Osprey Point ... that's Council Mountain with snow in the distance
Hi all,
It's great to finally see the snow melting off in the higher elevations of the mountains, ushering in the summer mountain recreation season. While the highest elevations are still snow-bound, the lower elevations in the greater McCall area are melted out, and the wildflowers are sprouting everywhere.
This week, for my outdoor tip of the week, I'm recommending four destinations for mountain biking in the greater McCall area. All of these would work for hiking or trail-running as well. All of these trails are featured in my book, Mountain Biking in McCall, available at most outdoor stores in McCall, some of the bike shops in Boise and on my web site.
1. Ride Huckleberry Trail around the perimeter of Ponderosa State Park. Rated intermediate with rocks and roots in the trail. Distance: approximately 6 miles. Riding time: 1 hour. Two years ago, Ponderosa State Park staff greatly enhanced the mountain biking experience in the park by adding new sections of the singletrack Huckleberry Trail. Now you can ride all the way around the perimeter of the park, stop at one of several places to go swimming if you wish, stop at Osprey Point to soak in the view, and then cruise along the west shoreline of the park with great views of the lake.
Huckleberry Trail parallels the lake along the west shore of the peninsula ...
I just rode the trail today, and it's been cleared of winter blowdown and other debris. I saw several deer, beautiful wildflowers by Osprey Point, and enjoyed the views of the lake along the way. You have to be on your toes when you're riding the trail in terms of negotiating around roots and rocks ... something that's pretty standard on McCall trails, but not something you encounter that much on the Boise Trails.
Note that if you ride your bike into the park from wherever you are staying, there is no entry fee.
2. Ride Bear Basin - Rated beginning and up. Smoother trails than Ponderosa Park. Distance: Up to you. Riding time: Up to you. Bear Basin is the perfect place to take kids biking. It has a variety of singletrack trails to enjoy, and good trail signage for navigation. I recommend Sleepy Hollow, Ditch Witch, Upper Drain, Blue Ridge and more. See map below.
You can reach the Bear Basin trailhead by taking ID 55 west of the city of McCall and following 55 to a right-hand turn right before the Little Ski Hill. Follow the road to the Forest Service trailhead. There is a rest room at the trailhead.
3. Brundage Mountain had a grand opening for the summer season today (Thursday, June 22), so the chairlifts are running on Thursdays-Sundays throughout the summer. There is still too much snow on top of Brundage to ride Elk Trail, but you can still ride a couple of shorter trails at the base area. You also could take the chairlift to the top to enjoy the view and snap a few photos. As the warm weather of the summer kicks in, you'll be able to ride from the top of the mountain in a few weeks. Things are delayed because of the epic winter of 2016-17.
4. Ride Jug Mountain Ranch - The trails at Jug Mountain are mostly lower elevation, so people have been riding there for a few weeks. Jug Mountain Ranch is located directly east of Lake Fork. They've got some of the best trails in the greater McCall area with banked corners, narrow singletracks, opportunities for big air, and just a beautiful setting in a dense forest with huge trees. I recommend riding South Elk Trail, climbing up on South Boundary Road to Jug Reservoir, riding around the lake on Shoreline Trail, and then taking Vandelay downhill to Harpers Hollow and return to the trailhead via North Elk Trail. You've also got to ride Berm & Ernie, preferable downhill. There are lots of different trails to try at JMR!
Check on the best lodging options in McCall via inidaho.com, vrbo.com, and the McCall Chamber of Commerce. I noticed a lot of open camp sites in Ponderosa State Park today, but I doubt that will last long!
It's a bummer to watch the Pioneer Fire burning up valuable resources in the Boise National Forest northeast of Idaho City. The fire had burned approximately 50,500 acres as of today's report on Inciweb, and it's continuing to run toward the northeast toward Lowman, sending big smoke plumes into the Garden Valley area, Stanley area, the Sawtooths and points east from there. The Whispering Pines yurt, accessible from the popular Gold Fork Park n' Ski Area, has been destroyed by the fire, and the status of two other yurts is questionable. KTVB-TV did a good report on the situation.
Because of the fire and smoke impacts in that area, I'm recommending five classic hiking and backpacking trips in the McCall area in the Payette National Forest for my outdoor tip of the week.
The McCall area should be clear of smoke this weekend, being well west of the Pioneer Fire. Check the Mile High Marina web cam to make sure.
As many of you know, the McCall area is surrounded by many high mountain lakes, some of them accessible by 4WD. See a previous blog post about kid-friendly lakes in the McCall area accessible by vehicle.
All of the hikes listed below could be done as a day trip or overnight backpack trip. Bear in mind that it's always a higher quality experience to take your backpack and stay overnight, if you can.
1. Snowslide Lake - It's a steep two-mile hike on a rocky trail to Snowslide Lake, but it's a lovely forested lake with a bunch of small brook trout available for kid fishing. My son Drew and I had a great day up there with Huck and Wendy recently. Saw a large group of families backpacking there for the weekend. Once at the lake, it's possible to hike farther up the trail to a pass and climb Snowslide Peak (elevation 8,522). It took us about an hour to reach the lake at a swift pace. Take Lick Creek Road out of McCall to reach the trailhead for Snowslide on the right side of the road. Pick up a Payette National Forest map or look it up online on Caltopo.com.for navigation.
2. Upper Hazard Lake - It's slightly less than two miles to Upper Hazard from the main Hazard Lake campground and trailhead. By walking to Upper Hazard, you'll leave most of the people behind, and you can enjoy a pretty spot ringed by rugged peaks. Hard Creek Lake is nearby if you'd like to try fishing another lake while you're in the 'hood. This hike is considerably easier than the steep hike to Snowslide. Hazard Lake is accessed via the Goose Lake Road on the way to Brundage Mountain.
3. Box Lake - It's about 3.5 miles to Box Lake from the trailhead on the left side of Lick Creek Road. It's a steep hike for several miles and then you hike across a flower-filled an Edelweiss-like meadow and see the lake in a hanging valley below. Gorgeous spot! Good fishing, too, and possible side hike to the top of Beaver Dam Peak (8,600 feet).
4. 20 Mile Lakes - There are four nice lakes to explore in the 20 Miles Lakes area. It's a 5-plus mile hike into the lakes. The last couple of miles off the 20-mile Trail are very steep to take you up to the lakes basin. Because of the distance, it's best to backpack into 20 Mile Lakes and stay overnight. There is good fishing up there. Pick a lake for your base camp and then day hike to the other lakes and see how the fishing is. The trailhead is accessed from Warren Wagon Road in McCall. The trailhead is located directly across from Upper Payette Lake. It's all pavement to the trailhead, which is a nice feature.
5. Blackmare Lake - This is more off-the-beaten path than the rest. Blackmare is accessed from the Kennally Creek Trailhead in the southern end of the Payette forest. Take Paddy Flat Road east from Idaho 55 to the end of the road. It's possible to car-camp at the trailhead, and there's an outhouse located there. It's about five miles one-way to the lake via the Needles Trail. We hiked a loop going up by Square Top at the Needles Summit and then dropped into the beautiful basin where Blackmare Lake sits. I caught some fish. We stayed overnight and then climbed to a saddle above Blackmare, where there are a couple of small ponds, crossed the ridge, and then bushwacked back to the trail, shortening the hike considerably back to the Kennally Creek trailhead.
There you have it! Consider these trips for future reference as well!
- SS
The summer is fast slipping away! There's only a couple of weeks left before school starts, so time is running short to get the kids and family out of town for some mountain adventure in our state's top scenic locations in SW Idaho -- Stanley and McCall.
For my outdoor tip this week, I'm recommending five kid-friendly hikes in these cool, high-elevation areas:
4th of July Lake (courtesy panoramio.com)
1. Short hike to 4th of July Lake and Washington Lake, Stanley area - This one is ideally suited for young kids because it's not a very long hike. It's about 1.7 miles to 4th of July Lake, and 2.8 miles to Washington Lake. Very easy hiking in a beautiful mountain setting in the White Clouds! Access the trailhead by driving south of Stanley to Iron Creek Road on the left side of Idaho 75. Take the road about 10 miles to the trailhead. Bring your flower book.
Drew and Quinn take a breather on the way to Alpine Lake
Gorgeous basin you climb through to reach the lakes
Alpine Lake, the best spot for camping
Sawtooth Lake ... beautiful but not much flat space for camping (courtesy Summitpost.org)
2. Iron Creek Trail to Alpine Lake or Sawtooth Lake, Stanley area - The Iron Creek Trailhead is located a few miles west of Stanley. Follow the Iron Creek Road to the trailhead and park. It's 8 miles out and back to Alpine Lake and 10 miles out and back to Sawtooth Lake. Alpine Lake lies in a shady forested setting. Sawtooth Lake is much higher with open views of the Sawtooth Mountains. It's a hefty hike to either location on a steep mountain trail, but your kids will do great. I also see a lot of young kids backpacking to Alpine Lake on this hike.
Marsh Creek
3. Marsh Creek fishing special, Stanley area - Fish for native westslope cutthroat trout on the Marsh Creek trail (single-barbless hooks only; catch-and-release) in this key tributary of the famed Middle Fork of the Salmon River. It's a 5-mile hike one-way from the trailhead to a glory hole at the junction with Bear Valley Creek. It's worth the walk if you're a diehard. Access the trailhead by taking Idaho 21 to the Lolo Campground and Bradley Boy Scout turnoff in the Cape Horn area. Turn left and proceed to the Lolo Campground. The trailhead is just past the campground.
Steve and Drew at Snowslide Lake
Steep trail to Snowslide!
Drew catches a little brook trout
4. Snowslide Lake, McCall - It's a steep two-mile hike on a rocky trail to Snowslide Lake, but it's a lovely forested lake with a bunch of small brook trout available for kid fishing. My son, Drew, and I hiked up there with Wendy and Huck last weekend. Had a great time! Took us about an hour to get to the lake at a swift pace.
Huckleberry Trail, Ponderosa State Park
5. Huckleberry Trail, McCall - Ponderosa State Park built an addition to the Huckleberry Trail late last fall, and hikers and mountain bikers are really enjoying it -- for good reason. The trail runs alongside the east side of the peninsula, providing great views of this quiet side of Payette Lake. The trail starts off of the Fox Run Trail, best accessed from Pilgrim Cove Road. Follow the Huckleberry Trail along the lake for 2-3 miles until you join the main Huckleberry Trail. Continue on if you wish and enjoy a more deep forest setting to the top of Osprey Point.
The good ship "Idaho," the new tour boat provided by Payette Lake Cruises. (Courtesy Ellen Ganz)
Bike racing at Jug Mountain Ranch. (Courtesy JMR)
Hi all,
I'm heading for McCall this weekend, and you should too!
In this week's outdoor tip, I'll give you at least 10 reasons to visit McCall. I'll start with Reason #1 -- Beat the Heat! When it hits 90 degrees in Boise, I automatically think about migrating to the lush, shady forests of McCall, where the wildflowers are beginning to bloom, and it will be at least 15 degrees cooler than it is in Boise.
Here's Reason #2: Payette Lake Cruises, a brand new tour boat service in McCall just started operation this year. The cruise service has a 65-foot, two-level tour boat named "Idaho" with daily tours of the lake at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m., a Sunday brunch tour, private dinner tours and more. Daily 90-minute tours cost $20 for adults and $12 for kids. The Sunday brunch tour includes food for $39 for adults. Sounds like a lot of fun! Not everyone has their own power boat or sail boat to cruise around on Payette Lake.
Reason #3: The Wild Rockies series moves to Jug Mountain Ranch in Lake Fork this weekend. It's the 5th annual Jug Mountain Ranch cross-country race and Super D. The cross-country course is 12 miles long on mostly singletrack with a few two-track sections. That's on Saturday. It's a national qualifying event. The downhill is on Sunday. Plus, there's a trail-running event on Saturday. I've been riding a lot at Jug the last few years. The riding out there keeps getting better as Jug Mountain Ranch, CIMBA and others enhance the trail system by building new xc trails and freeride trails. See the Wild Rockies web site for details about the race this weekend.
Mountain biking in McCall is totally fab!
Reason #4: I just reprinted and updated my guide Mountain Biking in McCall with new singletrack at Jug Mountain Ranch, the latest routes and map for Bear Basin Trails, a new meadow loop at Tamarack Resort, and other important updates to reflect logging impacts on trails or washouts (Teapot Mountain Loop in the South Fork Salmon River area is now an out-and-back ride). Some good bets for mountain biking this weekend include Bear Basin (can't go wrong), Tamarack meadow loop (great for all abilities),North Valley Rail-Trail (easy), andLoon Lake (advanced). All of the local outdoor stores are stocked up on my guidebook, including Gravity Sports, Hometown Sports, McCall Drug, May Hardware, Shore Lodge gift shop, Paul's, Ridley's, the McCall gift shop and Ponderosa State Park.
Morel mushroom
Reason #5: It's still possible to hunt for tasty morel mushrooms in the forests around McCall. I would look for them above 6,000 feet elevation. Make sure you know how to identify morels.
Reason #6: Reilly Coyote will be playing Saturday night at the Salmon River Brewery, a very popular hangout in McCall with great food on Colorado Street.
Reason #7: The snow is melting fast, but according to the McCall Ranger District, the snow level is hovering at approximately 6,700 feet elevation. That means the forest road to Lick Creek Summit is snow-bound at the summit, but you may be able to reach lower elevation trails. Some good bets for hiking would include the Huckleberry Trail at Ponderosa State Park, 20-Mile Trail near Upper Payette Lake, Bear Basin Trails and the North Valley Rail-Trail.
Reason #8: It'd be a sweet weekend to paddle the Meanders on the north end of Payette Lake with your sweetheart. Start and finish at North Beach. If you have your own canoe, inflatable kayak or sit-on-top kayak, any of those crafts would work great for the Meanders. It's about 3-4 miles out and back. There also are rental boats available in McCall at North Beach, at The Hub, and Gravity Sports. The trip is featured in my guidebook "Paddling the Payette."
Reason #9: It's always a good time to lounge on the beach in McCall. Bring your lawn chairs, some beverages and find some beach space to hang out on the south end of the lake (two public beaches), the north end by North Beach, or dispersed sites on the east side of the lake.
Reason #10: All of the local golf courses are open and ready for play. The McCall city course is really fun and challenging to play ... it has 3 different nines. You also could play Meadow Creek in New Meadows, Osprey Meadows at Tamarack (closed temporarily until June 30), Whitetail by Shore Lodge or Jug Mountain Ranch.
Hopefully this gives you a few ideas. I didn't even mention road biking to Secesh Summit, circumnavigating Payette Lake on your bike (some dirt involved on the east side road) or soaking in the wonderful pool at Burgdorf. I could go on and on.
If you don't have a place to stay in McCall, try to snag a hotel room, or check with InIdaho.com or vrbo.com for a condo or rental home. You can always pitch a tent in the national forest nearby, too!
Don't forget your bug juice. The mosquitoes will be a factor ... at least in the evenings. Have fun!
-- SS Steve shares his weekly outdoor tips with Ken and Tim on 94.9 FM The River each Friday morning in Boise at approximately 7:10 a.m. You can hear archived audio segments on River Interactive.com. Detailed descriptions and color maps of Steve's hikes, bike rides and paddling trips are available for 99 cents each at www.stevestuebner.com, plus the full ebooks and hard-copy guidebooks.
Secesh River bridge; sweet singletrack along the river coming up
Flowers amid the burn
I ran into people camping with llamas last year in the meadow 1/4 mile from Loon Lake
Bear Grass in bloom next to the trail
It's going to be sizzling hot this weekend, so you've got to head for higher elevation to get cooler weather, and you need to be near cold water for cooling off. Duh. If it's 100 in Boise, the temps will be nudging 90 in McCall or Ketchum. So I'm recommending going to McCall, and doing a 10-mile (round-trip) hike or mountain bike ride to Loon Lake.
One could backpack into Loon Lake, too. There are some great campsites near the lake, but a lot of people go there, so it's not, shall we say, "secluded." Car camping at Chinook Campground, the Loon Lake trailhead, also is a beautiful spot.
Check out this video on YouTube about mountain biking the Loon Lake trail by Kevin Mullin of Boise. It's got great flow ... just like the ride itself.
Loon Lake is a major-big mountain lake. It's more than a mile across. You might see a moose or a loon. Certainly a merganser. But one thing that's really neat about Loon Lake is that the water is shallow, so it warms up nicely by this time of year, and you can swim a long ways out into the lake and really enjoy it. (I have a story about Wendy swimming naked out there -- and getting stuck out there -- when some Boy Scouts showed up, and she couldn't come back into shore for some time!) Most high mountain lakes are so fricking cold that you can't do anything more than a quick skinny dip! Wendy was out there for like 20 minutes!
There's also a plane-crash site on the west side of Loon Lake that provides information about these guys who miraculously landed a B-23 Dragon bomber in the snow in the dead of winter and survived. They hiked out, and they were 50 miles from civilization! Whoa. It's worth hiking to the wreckage site if you haven't done so already. The Forest Service has put up interpretive signs that tell the story.
Check out the wildflowers along the way to the lake. Watch for salmon in the Secesh. And hit Burgdorg Hot Springs after your trip, if you're so inclined. -- SS
Read all about Steve's outdoor trips in Idaho, including hiking, mountain biking, backpacking, camping, trail-running, whitewater boating, canoeing, SUP’ing, skiing and snowshoeing.
I love being outdoors and hanging out in the mountains. It's my favorite place to be. I love to explore new places and experience different outposts in the Idaho backcountry.
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